Micah 7:17

Micah 7:17 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth: they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because of thee.
• New International Version (NIV)They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.
• English Standard Version (ESV)they shall lick the dust like a serpent, like the crawling things of the earth; they shall come trembling out of their strongholds; they shall turn in dread to the Lord our God, and they shall be in fear of you.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They shall lick the dust like a serpent; They shall crawl from their holes like snakes of the earth. They shall be afraid of the Lord our God, And shall fear because of You.

Context of Micah 7:17

15Lord, you did great things long ago, when you brought us out of the land of Egypt. Do great things like that again. 16The people in other countries will see what you do. They will understand that they are not really powerful. So then they will be ashamed. They will be like deaf people and dumb people. They will be like snakes that move along the ground. They will be afraid and they will eat dust like snakes. They will come carefully out of their safe places, because they are afraid of you, the Lord our God. 18No other god is like you. You chose us to be your people. And you decide not to remember what we have done wrong. Not many of your people remain and we have done bad things. But you choose to forget those bad things. You will not always be angry, because you want very much to be kind. 19You like to be kind because you love us. You will remove everything that we have done wrong. You will crush those bad things. You will throw all of them into the deep sea.

Micah 7:17 word by word

יְלַחֲכ֤וּ עָפָר֙ כַּנָּחָ֔שׁ כְּזֹחֲלֵ֣י אֶ֔רֶץ יִרְגְּז֖וּ מִמִּסְגְּרֹֽתֵיהֶ֑ם אֶל־יְהוָ֤ה אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙ יִפְחָ֔דוּ וְיִֽרְא֖וּ מִמֶּֽךָּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They shall lickלָחַךְlâchak · to lickH3897
• the dustעָפָר‛âphâr · dustH6083
• like a serpentנָחָשׁnâchâsh · serpentH5175
• they shall moveרָגַזrâgaz · to trembleH7264
• out of their holesמִסְגֶּ֫רֶתmisgereth · perimeterH4526
• like wormsזָחַלzâchal · to crawlH2119
• of the earthאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: soilH776
• they shall be afraidפָּחַדpâchad · to dreadH6342
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• our Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• and shall fearיָרֵאyârê' · to fear: revereH3372

Cross-references for Micah 7:17

• Genesis 3:14The Lord God said to the snake, ‘Because you have done this, I will curse you. Among all the farm animals and wild animals, you are the one that I will curse. From now on, you will move across the ground on your stomach. You will eat dust from the ground. You will do this for your whole life.
• Psalms 72:9Then people who live in the desert will bend down to respect him. His enemies will fall down with their faces in the dust.
• Isaiah 49:23The kings of those nations will take care of your children. The kings' daughters will feed them. The rulers will bend down low in front of you, so that their faces touch the ground. They will taste the dirt by your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I will not disappoint people who wait for me to help them.
• Isaiah 60:14The descendants of your cruel enemies will come to you. They will bend down low in front of you. Everybody who insulted you before will now give you honour. They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord, Zion that is home for Israel's Holy God.’
• Isaiah 65:25At that time, wolves and lambs will eat together. Lions will eat straw like cows. A snake's food will be dirt. Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else anywhere on my holy mountain.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Lamentations 3:29They should be humble in front of God. Then hope may come again.
• Revelation 3:9Some people there say that they are Jews. But that is not true. They are telling lies. Instead, they belong to a group of Satan's people. I will cause those people to bend down low in front of you to give you honour. Then they will understand that I love you.
• 1 Samuel 14:11Jonathan and the young man stood where the Philistine soldiers could see them. The Philistines said, ‘Look! The Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have been hiding.’
• Psalms 18:45They are not brave enough to fight me. They shake with fear, as they come out of their strong cities.
• Jeremiah 16:16But now I will send enemies to catch these people. They will catch them like fishermen catch fish. They will chase after them like hunters who catch wild animals. They will find them everywhere in the mountains, in the hills and in holes in the rocks.
• Exodus 15:14The people of other nations will hear what you have done. They will be very afraid. The people who live in Philistia will shake with fear.
• Joshua 2:9She said to them, ‘I know that the Lord has given this land to you. Everyone here is afraid of you Israelites. Everyone who lives in this land is very frightened.
• Joshua 9:24The Gibeonites said to Joshua, ‘We heard about the command that the Lord your God had given to his servant, Moses. We know that he told Moses to take the whole of our land for you to live in. We know that you must kill all the people who live there now. Because of that, we were very afraid that you would kill us. That is why we did what we did.
• Psalms 9:20Lord, make them afraid! Make the nations know that they are only weak and human. Selah.
• Isaiah 2:19People will run away to the caves in the hills. They will try to hide in holes in the ground. They will try to escape from the great power of the Lord, when he comes to judge everyone. They will see that he rules with great authority. People will be very afraid when he comes to punish the people on earth.
• Isaiah 64:2You would come like a fire that burns up wood, and it causes water to boil. The nations would shake with fear. Your enemies would know why your name is so great.

Commentaries on Micah 7:17

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17They shall lick the dust like a (the) serpent - To lick the dust, by itself, pictures the extreme humility of persons who east themselves down to the very earth (as in Psalm 72:9; Isaiah 49:23). To lick it “like the serpent” seems rather to represent the condition of those who share the serpent‘s doom Genesis 3:14; Isaiah 65:25, whose lot, viz. earth and things of earth, they had chosen (Rup.): “They shall move out of their holes”, or, better, shall…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 14-20Verses 14-20 When God is about to deliver his people, he stirs up their friends to pray for them. Apply spiritually the prophet's prayer to Christ, to take care of his church, as the great Shepherd of the sheep, and to go before them, while they are here in this world as in a wood, in this world but not of it. God promises in answer to this prayer, he will do that for them which shall be repeating the miracles of former ages. As their sin brought them…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17Like snakes, the nations had attacked Israel's heel (compare Genesis 3:14–15). The prophets often described foreign nations as deceitful, poisonous serpents (Isaiah 14:29; Jeremiah 8:17; Ezekiel 29:1–3). Now these nations would face humiliation (compare Psalm 72:9). Crawling and "licking dust" were metaphors for defeat and humiliation.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. lick the dust--in abject prostration as suppliants (Psa 72:9; compare Is 49:23; 65:25). move out of their holes--As reptiles from their holes, they shall come forth from their hiding-places, or fortresses (Psa 18:45), to give themselves up to the conquerors. More literally, "they shall tremble from," that is, tremblingly come forth from their coverts. like worms--reptiles or crawlers (De 32:24). they shall be afraid of the Lord--or, they shall in fear…Read the comment

Topics related to Micah 7:17

• Conviction
• Fear of God
• Serpent

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Light
• Mouth
• Net
• Worm
• Dust
• Micah (2)
• Reptile
• Serpent

Commentaries on Micah 7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings